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NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- Much like a year ago at Quail Hollow, when Jhonattan Vegas and Mathieu Pavon led the way after 36 holes, the top of the leaderboard at the 2026 PGA Championship features a pair of surprising names heading into the weekend. Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley share the top spot at 4 under, and they will be paired together in the final tee time on Saturday afternoon.
McNealy jumped to the top of the leaderboard with a 3-under 67, while Smalley will hold a share of the lead for a second straight night thanks to a solid 69. Both players briefly held two-shot leads while they were on the course before backing up some but still managed to outpace the other 154 players in the field through 36 holes.
The final pairing on the weekend of a major will be uncharted territory for both, and adding to that stress is the fact that their rearview mirror is filled with some of the biggest names in the sport lurking just off their pace. The group one back of the leaders features some strong players like Hideki Matsuyama, Chris Gotterup and Min Woo Lee, but it's when you go two back to the seven players tied for ninth that you arrive at some real heavy-hitters.
The headliner at T9 is defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who stumbled backwards with a 1-over 71 on Friday after taking a rare first-round lead at a major. Scheffler dealt with the tougher morning conditions and struggled to find fairways early, but he was able to grind his way back to 2 under and into the top 10 after three early bogeys.
Joining Scheffler at 2 under are Cameron Young, Justin Thomas and Ludvig Åberg, three of the other pre-tournament favorites who also pushed their way into the top 10 on Friday. Also in red figures and three shots off the lead starting the weekend are Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay.
Much like last year, there will be those who poke at the top of the leaderboard and question if it's fitting for a major championship, but just behind the surprising leaders are many of the game's stars and top performers this year.
The big unknown is how the course will play on Saturday and Sunday in changing weather conditions. Temperatures will increase, and the wind is expected to lighten. If the PGA of America desires, it could ease up on the pin positions that Scheffler called "the hardest I've seen on Tour" on Friday.
Whether they give players more green lights or continue to demand precision and patience, the weekend should be an exciting race to the finish line with Smalley and McNealy trying to hold off Scheffler, Young and some of the other best in the world.
If last year is a guide, the cream will rise to the top by Sunday, but with the test this course is providing and the names hanging around the lead -- just ask the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Tommy Fleetwood, who missed the cut -- whoever hoists the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening will more than have earned the title of major champion.
2026 PGA Championship leaderboard breakdown, Round 2
T1. Maverick McNealy, Alex Smalley (-4): McNealy's best career major finish is a T18 at this year's Masters. Smalley's best effort is a T23 at the 2023 PGA Championship. Smalley was honest on Friday afternoon about learning to deal with the spotlight and the nerves that come with playing major championship golf.
"I don't like being in the spotlight a whole lot, so I'm still trying to get used to playing in front of large groups of people like there are at tournaments like this one," Smalley said. "Starting to get better. But my first couple years on Tour, I kind of struggled with that. It's a different feeling when you have hundreds or thousands of eyeballs on you at once. It can be a little overwhelming. So I just try to go about my business as best as I can and realize that there's probably people that don't know who I am, and that's fine, and I just try to keep going from there."
Both players grabbed two-shot solo leads at different points on Friday, and then seemed to feel the pressure of being alone at the top and came back to earth. All the same, they've played fantastic golf to get to this point and have more than earned their spots on top entering the weekend. Saturday afternoon, they will be thrown in the deep end together to find out if they sink or swim.
T3. Hideki Matsuyama, Chris Gotterup, Min Woo Lee, Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Max Greyserman (-3): Gotterup posted the low round of the week with his 65 on Friday as he continues to prove himself as a big-time player. His success in Scotland last year may have helped him in the tougher wind conditions early in the second round, as he got to tap into his creativity to work it around Aronimink Golf Club before charging through the finish line with three straight birdies to close out his round.
Matsuyama had a similarly strong round, and it's not a huge surprise to see one of the PGA Tour's long-time best ball-strikers find his way to the first page of the leaderboard on this golf course. The question for Matsuyama is always whether the putter can hold up, but he rolled it well in the second round to move inside the top three.
Lee briefly had a share of the lead on Friday but stumbled in the middle of his round before a late rebound to get back in the mix. He's always had impressive talent, but this year, he's started to prove he's more than just a big hitter, and that's showing up so far this week. Potgieter also took the solo lead as he made the turn but closed his round with back-to-back bogeys to slip one off the pace.
Jaeger became the first player since Richard Green in 2011 to make 18 pars in a round at the PGA Championship, as he didn't make any mistakes but also couldn't move forward on Friday. Greyserman, meanwhile, vaulted into T3 thanks to an eagle at the 9th (his last hole of the day) to add another surprising name to the mix.
T9. Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Justin Thomas, Ludvig Åberg, Harris English, Si Woo Kim, David Puig: The most interesting group on the leaderboard. Scheffler couldn't find a fairway early and paid the price, but he showed once again how good he is at grinding out a round and not letting things ever truly get away from him. Scheffler hopes this follows the same script as last year, as he erased a three-shot deficit on the weekend to run away to his first PGA victory.
Young, like Greyserman, eagled the 9th to finish his day and jump into the top 10, as he looks to capture his first major title.
Thomas had an up-and-down day but held it together to shoot his second straight 1-under 69 and stay firmly in the hunt. Åberg posted the second-best round of the week with a 66 to erase his disappointing start and get himself in position to chase major championship No. 1 on the weekend.
English and Kim, two of the best ball-strikers in the world, are also not shocking residents of the first page of the leaderboard. Although they go about their games differently, both will lean on their iron play all weekend to try to remain in the mix for a first major win.
T16. Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Jason Day and four others (-1): The story of this group is missed opportunities, as each will be thinking about what could've been and feel they should be even closer to the lead. Rahm looked like he might make a real charge at the lead in the middle of his round, but a pair of late bogeys stalled his progress and kept him three back of the lead. Day came out hot with two birdies in his first two holes, but never added a third and ultimately posted an even-par 70. Cantlay, like Rahm, got it rolling for a bit but couldn't avoid a late bogey either.
T29. Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka and nine others (+1): There are an awful lot of stars sitting back at 1 over, and with the leaders only five shots ahead of them, everyone in this group will feel like they're still alive. McIlroy bounced back from his dreadful opening round to shoot a solid bogey-free 67 that could've been even better, but at minimum avoided the indignity of a missed cut fresh off his Masters win. Everyone in this group has yet to find their complete game, showing flashes where they threaten to make a run, but running into too much trouble to really be a threat after 36 holes. Still, the talent is there for all of them, and if the course loosens up just a touch on the weekend, one of these stars could make a real move on Saturday.
